1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure of connecting shielded connectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, shielded electrical wire is being used in vehicles, and particularly in an electric vehicle for shielding from electromagnetic noise. An end of the shielded wire is attached to a shielded connector, which is connected to another shielded connector of an electrical equipment such as an electric motor or connected to another shielded connector of another shielded wire. Namely, by connecting the shielded connector with another shielded connector, core wire of the shielded wire is electrically connected to a terminal of the shielded connector, and braided wire of the shielded wire is electrically connected to an electrically conductive housing or a connector housing to establish shield connection.
One example of a structure for connecting shielded connectors is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-48912. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a male insulated housing 62 having a flat male terminal 61 is mounted from an outside of a shield box 60 on an outer surface 64 of a side wall 63. Then, the flat male terminal 61 and an internal male cylinder 66 are inserted into an opening 65 of the side wall 63, and a bolt 67 is inserted through an attachment hole 68 formed on the side wall 63. When a flange 69 is abutting on the outer surface 64 of the side wall 63, a top of the bolt 67 is protruded on an inside surface of the side wall 63. Thus, the male insulated housing 62 is temporarily held on the outer surface 64.
Next, a male shield shell 70 is inserted from the inside of the shield box 60 into the opening 65 of the side wall 63. In this insertion, first, a shell base 71 is protruded in an engaging recess 72 of the male insulated housing 62 and the bolt 67 is inserted through a through hole 74 of an attachment piece 73, while the attachment piece 73 is abutting on an inner surface 75 of the side wall 63. Next, the male insulated housing 62 is fixed on the side wall 63 of the shield box 60 by screwing the bolt 67 into a nut (not shown). At this time, because of abutting on the inner surface 75 of the side wall 63 through the attachment piece 73, the shell base 71 is electrically connected to the shield box 60.
By inserting an auxiliary cylinder 76 into the engaging recess 72 of the male insulated housing 62, the auxiliary cylinder 76 is attached to the shell base 71. Thus, one male shield shell 70 is composed of the shell base 71 and the auxiliary cylinder 76. Then, a female housing 77 is engaged with the male insulated housing 62 mounted on the shield box 60. Thus, a connecting terminal 79 connected to core wire of shielded wire 78 and the flat male terminal 61 are engaged with each other to be electrically connected with each other, while a female shield shell 81 connected to braided wire 80 of the shielded wire 78 and the male shield shell 70 are engaged with each other to be electrically connected with each other.
As described above, the connecting terminal connected to core wire of shielded wire and the flat male terminal are engaged with each other to be electrically connected with each other, while the female shield shell connected to the braided wire of the shielded wire and the male shield shell is engaged with each other to be electrically connected with each other, because the female housing is engaged to the male housing after the male insulated housing is attached to the outside surface of the shield box, and the conductive shield shell is attached to the shield box in such a manner that a part of the shield shell is protruded in the mail housing and electrically connected to the shield box. Therefore, noise invasion and signal leakage can be prevented.
However, because the female shield shell connected to the braided wire of the shielded wire is engaged with the male shield shell in the male housing, a connection of the connectors cannot be ascertained.
This invention has been accomplished to solve the problem and an object of this invention is to provide a structure of connecting shielded connectors for performing shield connection reliably and allowing to ascertain the connection.
The object of the invention has been achieved by providing a structure of connecting shielded connectors comprising: a pair of connectors; conductive connector housings of the respective connectors; a rotatable conductive lever mounted on either one of the conductive connector housings; an engaging part of the other conductive connector housing for engaging with the rotatable conductive lever to connect the pair of connectors with each other; and a resilient conductive abutting member mounted on the rotatable conductive lever and/or the other conductive connector housing for abutting on the other conductive connector housing and/or the rotatable conductive lever as being resiliently deformed, whereby said pair of connectors establishes shield connection when being connected with each other.
In this structure, when the rotatable conductive lever is rotated to connect the pair of connectors with each other, the resilient abutting member abuts on the other connector housing and/or the rotatable conductive lever to be resiliently deformed. Therefore, because the rotatable conductive lever is connected with the other connector housing through the conductive resilient abutting member, the pair of the conductive connector housing is electrically connected with each other reliably. Further, because the rotatable conductive lever is connected with the other connector housing through the resilient abutting member, the lever is wobble-free while connecting. Therefore, because a wobbling state of the rotatable conductive lever differs according to whether the shielded connectors are connected with each other or not, a state of connection between the conductive connector housings can be ascertained by the wobbling state of the rotatable conductive lever.
Preferably, the rotatable conductive lever has a longer rotary length than a moving length, for allowing the shielded connector to be inserted into the other shielded connector with low insertion force. With this manner, the shielded connectors can be easily engaged with the low insertion force.
Preferably, the resilient abutting member is disposed in a path of rotation of the rotatable conductive lever to connect the shielded connectors with each other, at where the resilient abutting member starts to abut on the other connector housing and/or the rotatable conductive lever.
In this case that the resilient abutting member is disposed in a path of rotation of the rotating lever at where the resilient abutting member starts to be resiliently deformed, the rotating lever can be rotated with smaller force than that in a case that the resilient abutting member is being deformed from a start of said rotation. It is because the rotation of the rotating lever in this manner of this invention does not need an additional force for deforming the resilient member at the start, while said rotation needs a large force for rotating the rotating lever at the start. Therefore, the pair of shielded connectors can be connected with each other easier.
Preferably, the resilient abutting member is a flat spring formed by bending a part of the rotatable conductive lever and/or the other conductive connector housing. This manner does not need additional conductive member as a resilient abutting member and guarantees an electrical connection between the resilient abutting member and the rotatable conductive lever or the other connector housing. Therefore, a reliable shielded connection can be achieved with a simple structure.